PENSACOLA — Former patients and their families may attend a children's hospital neonatal intensive care unit reunion.

The annual event is an opportunity for families to reconnect with the nurses, doctors and team members who cared for them throughout their journey, as well as with the other families with whom they may have grown close.

Guests may dress up as pirates and mermaids and enjoy games, story time, crafts, snacks and both indoor and outdoor play areas, where they can “walk the plank” and explore pirate ships and mermaid ponds.

Reservations are required due to limited space for the event, which is Oct. 1 in the Greenhut Auditorium at Sacred Heart Hospital, 5151 N. Ninth Ave., Pensacola. Guests are advised to use the Ninth Avenue parking garage.

For registration or more information, call 416-1600.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Pensacola hospital plans reunion of neonatal unit families

GAINESVILLE — Children have lots of food and beverage choices when they return to school this fall. Parents can take an active role in ensuring their children eat healthy foods at school, says a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher.

Also, some parents may be reassured by standards established by the federal government four years ago — the first major changes to school nutrition standards in 15 years, said Gail Kauwell, a UF/IFAS professor of food science and human nutrition.

Parents can encourage their children to eat good food at school, instead of throwing it out.

“Discussing the importance of fruits, vegetables, and proper nutrition with your child can help them understand the importance of eating their fruits and vegetables whether they are eating at home, school or somewhere else,” Kauwell said.

“If you pack your child’s lunch, you can put a ‘fun twist’ on the fruits and vegetables. Making kabobs (place chunks of fruit and vegetables on skewers) or ‘bugs on a log’ (celery, cucumber, or carrot sticks (the ‘log’) topped with peanut butter and dried fruit (the ‘bugs’) are ways to make the fruits and vegetables more fun.”

If your child is eating school food, school lunch regulations are broken down by grade level, Kauwell said.

The regulations require students in kindergarten through fifth grades to be served 8 to 9 ounces of grains and 8 to 10 ounces of meat or meat alternatives per week, with at least 1 ounce of grains and 1 ounce of meat or meat alternatives per day. These lunches will provide 550 to 650 calories, with less than 10 percent of total calories coming from saturated fat.

Also in all grade levels, grains are required to be “whole grain rich,” which means that the product is at least 50 percent whole grain.

The milk varieties that are offered include fat-free (flavored or unflavored), 1 percent low-fat (unflavored), or a milk alternative.

The standards are expected to achieve the following:

●Increase fruits and vegetables served; emphasize whole-grain- rich foods; limit calories.

●Allow “Offer Versus Serve” fruit and vegetable options consistent with the Institute of Medicine recommendations. In this program, students must select at least three of the five food components offered to them (i.e., meat/meat alternative, grains, fruits, vegetables, and milk), and one of these five must include at least a one-half cup serving of a fruit or vegetable.

●Improve cultural food options, such as allowing tofu to qualify as a meat alternative.

Changes to school meals are based on the latest nutritional science and are intended to provide one-fourth of students’ daily calorie needs from breakfast and one-third for lunch, according to the USDA.

Possibly the biggest change with regard to fruits and vegetables is that the new standards set requirements for including a variety of vegetables from different subgroups (i.e., dark green, red/orange, beans/peas, and starchy vegetables), and fruits and vegetables are no longer placed together as a nutritional requirement. Instead, there are specific amounts of fruits and vegetables that must be served daily as part of school lunch meals, Kauwell said.

“Giving students options helps eliminate situations in which students take too much food and throw it away,” wrote Kauwell and her colleagues in an Extension paper. “The best strategy to reduce food waste may simply be to engage and educate students about the new standards to increase acceptance. This might include taste tests of unfamiliar foods or using creative marketing and presentation techniques.”

Brad Buck is a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences science writer.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: A University of Florida guide to eating healthy foods at school

FORT WALTON BEACH — The Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County is observing World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month by celebrating the local businesses and hospitals that are working toward making Okaloosa County the breastfeeding-friendliest county in Florida.

“The diverse benefits of breastfeeding translate into hundreds of dollars of savings at the family level and billions of dollars at the national level through decreased hospitalizations and pediatric visits,” stated Dr. Karen A. Chapman, DOH-Okaloosa director. “Breastfeeding also means food security for infants. Breastfeeding significantly improves the health, development and survival of infants and children. It also contributes to improved health and well-being of mothers, both in the short and long term. This is why it is important that breastfeeding be supported in all aspects of a mother’s life.”

 Local employers currently participating in the DOH-Okaloosa initiative Healthy Okaloosa Worksites are taking steps in providing support in their workplace to their breastfeeding employees. Those that made environmental and policy changes in support of breastfeeding are encouraged to apply for the Florida Breastfeeding Friendly Employer Award given by the Florida Breastfeeding Coalition, Inc.

Local employers recognized in the past year include:

●Twin Cities Hospitals (Silver Recognition)

●Childcare Network #142 (Silver Recognition)

●Acentria Insurance (Silver Recognition)

●Northwest Florida State College – Child Development & Education Center (Silver Recognition)

Fort Walton Beach Medical Center has also taken strides in supporting new and expecting mothers in making the choice to breastfeed. This past year, FWBMC began their journey to earn the Florida Quest for Quality Maternity Care Award through the Florida Breastfeeding Coalition, Inc. The role of the designation is to assess birth facilities’ policies and practices. FWBMC is dedicated to improving the health of babies and is taking steps toward helping mothers initiate breastfeeding within an hour of birth and implementing rooming-in, allowing mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.

To celebrate National Breastfeeding Month, DOH-Okaloosa WIC staff will participate in the first annual Central Panhandle Live, Love, Latch! event taking place at the Landing in Fort Walton Beach, Florida on Saturday, August 27 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The event is hosted by La Leche League of the Navarre and the La Leche League of Central Panhandle.

Almost all mothers can breastfeed successfully, which includes initiating breastfeeding within the first hour of life, breastfeeding exclusively for the first 6 months, and continuing breastfeeding along with giving appropriate complimentary foods up to 2 years of age or beyond. Exclusive breastfeeding and continued breastfeeding for two years and beyond provide high quality nutrients and adequate energy and can help prevent hunger, undernutrition and obesity.

For more information on how to participate in the Healthy Okaloosa Worksite initiative, contact Chandra Williams, 833-9240, extension 2161 or HealthyOkaloosa5210@flhealth.gov.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Northwest Florida companies support breastfeeding initiatives

Effective immediately, all blood collections throughout OneBlood’s Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina service areas will be tested for the Zika virus using an investigational donor screening test.

OneBlood operations remain business as usual, and collections will continue throughout its service areas, uninterrupted.

The move follows the FDA requesting blood donations in Miami-Dade and Broward counties be tested for the Zika virus. The guidance was issued in light of the Florida Department of Health investigating four possible non-travel related cases of the Zika virus.

Upon learning of FDA’s recommendations, OneBlood moved swiftly to implement testing in the two South Florida counties, and decided to implement system-wide testing of all blood donations collected throughout its entire service area.

If testing reveals a unit of blood is reactive for the Zika virus, OneBlood will quarantine the unit, notify the donor and alert the Florida Department of Health, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: OneBlood begins Zika virus testing

GAINESVILLE — Relatively few people are aware of the health benefits of mushrooms, according to a new national survey by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers.

Only 18.5 percent of survey respondents said they knew the health benefits of mushrooms, according to the online survey of 674 consumers.

“Potentially, increasing knowledge about health benefits would be useful to the mushroom industry,” said Lisa House, a UF/IFAS professor of food and resource economics and an investigator for the study.

Sue Percival, a UF/IFAS professor and chair of the department of food science and human nutrition and principal investigator for the study, published a study last year that documented how shiitake mushrooms can boost immunity.

They’re also low in calories, fat-free, cholesterol-free, low in sodium, and they’re the leading source of the antioxidant selenium in the produce aisle, according to the National Mushroom Council.

The study, to be presented at a national conference next week, revealed many other clues about consumers’ mushroom-buying habits.

For instance, consumers prefer fresh mushrooms over processed ones, but their choice to buy and eat mushrooms may also be a matter of taste, texture, price and nutritive values, said Yuan Jiang, a food and resource economics doctoral student who conducted the survey.

Jiang and her colleagues found about 20 percent of respondents said they had never bought fresh mushrooms, while 32 percent had never purchased processed mushrooms.

Among the non-consumers of mushrooms, 62.7 percent cited taste as one of the most important reasons, while 55.8 percent said they didn’t buy mushrooms because of its texture, and 40 percent said price deterred them.

“They thought the mushrooms were tough and chewy,” said Jiang, who will present the paper at the 2016 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association Annual Meeting in Boston.

For fresh mushroom consumers, the difference-makers were taste, convenience and health benefits.

Those buying processed mushrooms eat them mostly because they’re less expensive and they taste good. The study also showed that income level is related to fresh mushroom consumption.

With 16 percent of world output, the United States is second only to China in global mushroom production, according to the study. In 2014-2015, the United States produced 862 million pounds of fresh mushrooms and 90 million pounds of processed mushrooms. The U.S. exported 105 million pounds of fresh mushrooms and 263 pounds of processed mushrooms that year.

In fact, mushroom consumption has quadrupled in the U.S. since 1965, while consumption of processed – or canned – mushrooms, has steadily declined, the study says.

Brad Buck is a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences science writer.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: University of Florida study: Few people know mushrooms’ health benefits